Truckers Recount 'Barbaric' Settler Attack on Gaza Aid Convoy
TEHRAN (Tasnim) - Palestinian truck drivers delivering aid to Gaza recounted "barbaric" scenes as their vehicles were obstructed and vandalized by Israeli settlers, hindering the delivery of vital humanitarian supplies to a population facing severe hunger.
The attack, which occurred on May 13 at the Tarqumiya checkpoint in the occupied West Bank, saw drivers and contractors targeted. They also asserted that Israeli soldiers escorting the convoy did nothing to prevent the assault.
The incident drew international condemnation after videos on social media showed Israeli settlers throwing boxes of essential supplies to the ground and setting at least one vehicle on fire.
Yazid al-Zoubi, 26, stated that the convoy consisted of 50 to 60 trucks.
“We were carrying oil, sugar, and other things and driving from the Tarqumiya crossing,” he said, as quoted by The Guardian. “We left in a convoy with an army vehicle in front of us and an army vehicle behind us, and we took a special army road that civilians could not cross. Suddenly, after 20 minutes on the road, near the crossing, we were surprised by at least 400 settlers. They attacked us. The rest of the drivers and I escaped from the vehicles after the settlers starting throwing stones at us.”
Zoubi recounted that the situation escalated when settlers began smashing the lorries' windscreens and puncturing their tires. They then climbed onto the vehicles and tossed food packages onto the road.
This comes although aid agencies have reported famine conditions in Gaza, attributing them to Israeli restrictions on aid entering the territory. Humanitarian officials state that Gaza's population requires at least 500 truckloads of food, fuel, and other essentials daily, but they have received only a small portion of that, with weeks going by without one truck of aid coming into the enclave, Al Mayadeen reported.
During the Monday's attack, Zoubi said the Israeli soldiers escorting the convoy stood by and watched as the settlers went on a rampage.
“Even though they were present and watching what was happening. The army was at the service of the settlers,’’ he stressed.
Zoubi mentioned that the drivers initially fled the scene but were attacked by armed settlers when they returned later to collect their belongings.
The violence has reportedly led dozens of Palestinian drivers to refuse to transport supplies to Gaza. Adel Amer, a member of a West Bank haulers’ union, said, as quoted by Reuters, that around 15 trucks were damaged in the attack, with total damages amounting to approximately £1.6 million.
